1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a rotating electrical machine for a vehicle to be disposed in an engine room of a vehicle, particularly to a rotating electrical machine for a vehicle to be disposed on an inner side of a side member in a width direction of the vehicle, which side member is provided along a front-back direction of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In an engine room of a vehicle, a pair of side members are disposed on the left side and the right side in the width direction of the vehicle. The side members are each provided along the front-back direction of the vehicle, and an engine, a reduction gear and a rotating electrical machine are disposed between one of the side member and the other. The rotating electrical machine is disposed in a position facing one of the side member (e.g. the side member on the right side) (see JP 2011-213290 A, for example).
Further, it is known that in a vehicle having a pair of side members and a front cross member to connecting the pair of side members to each other, in a case where the right-side half of the vehicle crashes into a barrier (offset crash), the front cross member compressed by the barrier transmits the impact load to the side member, and the side member and its surrounding members are collapsed to absorb the impact load (see JP 2012-166653 A, for example).
Recent years, as an engine, a reduction gear, a rotating electrical machine, and the like are gathered in the engine room of a vehicle, and the rotating electrical machine is disposed facing and in the vicinity of the side member, if the side member is deformed inward along the width direction of the vehicle by e.g. a crash of the vehicle, the rotating electrical machine may be compressed by the side member. Thus, the rotating electrical machine for a vehicle is required to have sufficient protection strength.
However, as the rotating electrical machine for a vehicle is disposed in the vicinity of and facing the side member, increasing of the thickness of its housing is limited, and sufficient protection strength may not be obtained only by increasing the thickness of the housing.
In view of the above object, at least an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a rotating electrical machine for a vehicle capable of improving the protection strength efficiently.